Share

UK finance firms hiring more female staff

London - London's financial services industry is leaving its "old boy's club" image behind, after sharply increasing recruitment of women and overseas staff over the last year, research showed on Monday.

Over the past year the number of women working in London's the City and Canary Wharf financial districts shot up by nearly a half to 29% of the total workforce of nearly 520 000, according to financial services recruitment firm Astbury Marsden.

Chinese workers now account for 5% of City staff, compared to 3.8% last year, while 12% are Indian, 1 percentage point higher year on year. That compares to just 0.7% of the wider population that are ethnically Chinese and 2.5% that are Indian.

The increase has been partly driven by the growing importance of Chinese and Indian firms and London's attempts to become a regional hub for those companies, Astbury Marsden said.

"Clearly the composition of the City's workforce is changing rapidly as it hires more and more of the output of the best international business schools and universities, and leaves its image as an old boy's club further and further behind," said Astbury Marsden Director Adam Jackson.

Many companies see that there is value in having a diverse workforce: varied backgrounds and experience can encourage people to think differently and help organisations to compete while recruiting from wider groups broadens the talent pool.

Astbury Marsden said that there is some evidence to show companies' efforts to promote diversity are bearing fruit, particularly programmes to attract and retain female workers.

While women are over-represented in back-office functions, such as administrative and support roles, there has been a 15% rise in the proportion of female staff at analyst and associate level, with women now making up 40% of workers in these roles, Astbury Marsden said.

Progress has also been made to boost the ethnic and religious diversity of the London's financial sector. Almost 70% of City workers are white compared to 86% of the UK's overall population, while 9% are Hindu versus 5% in London as a whole, the figures showed.

The figures did not include numbers on staff with disabilities; a minority population which advocates say is often overlooked by corporate diversity schemes.

The Astbury Marsden survey was carried out in August and September. More than 1 000 workers replied to the survey.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.88
+0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.85
+0.2%
Rand - Euro
20.39
+0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.33
+0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.2%
Platinum
908.05
0.0%
Palladium
1,014.94
0.0%
Gold
2,232.75
-0.0%
Silver
24.95
-0.1%
Brent Crude
87.00
+1.8%
Top 40
68,346
0.0%
All Share
74,536
0.0%
Resource 10
57,251
0.0%
Industrial 25
103,936
0.0%
Financial 15
16,502
0.0%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders